Remember those January newspaper headlines heralding the
survival of all 12 trapped miners in West Virginia? Even the
august New York Times reported "12 Found Alive 41 Hours
After Explosion," but only one miner had actually survived.
In the frenzy to scoop competitors, reporters failed their
journalistic responsibility, and this penchant to rush to
judgment before all the facts are verified is again occurring on
two recent hot button issues - homeland security funding cuts to
New York City and the Haditha civilian deaths.
What I've garnered from the hysterical reaction to the funding
cuts is that the general public thinks the government uses its
own money. Here's a clue. It's taxpayers' money, so why aren't we
concerned with how it's being spent? Do we get upset only when we
think we're being shortchanged? Shouldn't we be asking why we
deserve more money when we haven't even spent all the money we
got last year? Before we start whining, taxpayers should be
demanding accountability for the billions we've received since
2001. MSNBC's Tucker Carlson claims that $46,908 of homeland
security money went to the Hampton Jitney, a bus service between
Manhattan and the Hamptons. Where did all the money go?
I mean, once security systems have been as technically upgraded
as possible, why would we expect the same funding every
succeeding year? Once the upgrades are in place, then the only
costs should be for operational training, servicing, and
personnel. What's wrong with reducing costs as expeditiously as
possible?
Now everyone's complaining because the other states are getting
homeland security funds. We got ours, but no one else should get
protection from terrorism? Is that it? Don't other states pay
federal taxes as well? Don't they have roads, water supplies,
farms that furnish our food supplies? How about the Hoover Dam,
the Alamo, Los Alamos, NORAD, nuclear silos, et cetera? The
entire country needs protection. Terror cells are in operation
all over the country, and in neighboring Canada, too.
Instead of offering rational analysis, reporters have taken
comments from the homeland security documents and spun them to
hype outrage in the city. Politicians running for re-election are
using the resulting hue and cry as campaign material.
Another poorly reported hot button issue is one that is being
disgracefully hyped by Rep. John Murtha, who has just been
salivating for another My Lai incident to bolster his call for
our retreat from Iraq. "Civilians in Haditha murdered by
Marines," the headlines screamed, and of course a case still
under investigation was tried in the press and the Marines were
found to be either bloodthirsty savages or battle weary men who
snapped from exhaustion. Once again, all the facts were not in,
nor did anyone question where the reports were emanating from. It
would have been nice if reporters had done a little research into
what life in Haditha was like before jumping to conclusions.
The London Guardian is a liberal British publication that
generally rails against America and coalition forces in Iraq, so
its eye-opening report about Haditha last year gives an insight
into what our brave Marines were up against there. Reporter Omer
Mahdi was given access to the city by the insurgents because they
did not realize he worked for a British newspaper. He would have
been killed if they had. He wrote: "Haditha, a farming town
of 90,000 people by the Euphrates river, is an insurgent citadel.
That Islamist guerrillas were active in the area was no secret
but only now has the extent of their control been revealed. They
are the sole authority, running the town's security,
administration and communications. It is a miniature Taliban-like
state."
The Guardian article disclosed the routine dawn beheadings and
savage beatings, which are all videotaped and sold on DVDs.
Children laugh at the cruelty and delight at the news of double
beheadings scheduled. The entire city is ruled by savagery,
terror, and fear, but it has electricity, so it obeys whatever
the insurgents decree. It was inevitable that when the Marines
finally made this full-scale attack on what appears to be the
base operations of the mujahedeen, bloodshed would be inevitable.
Families of the victims have refused to let their bodies be
exhumed to determine how they died. Given the routine slaughter
of disobedient residents, it's not inconceivable to imagine who
the killers really may be. These cowardly savages have been known
to use civilians as cover because they know that Americans are
decent warriors and that civilian casualties have been kept at an
extremely low level. What a pity that Mr. Murtha and the
mainstream press don't realize this.
Incidentally, The New York Sun reported that only one miner
survived.